NBC Universal is taking sides with fellow media conglomerate Viacom Inc. over a piracy lawsuit filed against Google Inc.’s online video sharing site YouTube, according to papers filed in court.
The case involves a separate party, Los Angeles News Service operator Robert Tur, who sued YouTube in July for allowing its users to appropriate his famous footage of trucker Reginald Denny being beaten during the 1992 Los Angeles riots.
In a filing submitted late on Friday to the U.S. District Court of the Central District of California, NBC Universal and Viacom submitted a friend of the court brief opposing YouTube’s bid to dismiss the copyright infringement suit brought by Tur.
NBC Universal is 80 percent owned by General Electric Co. and 20 percent owned by France’ Vivendi.
While NBC Universal (NBCU) has not sued YouTube itself, the court papers it filed in the Tur case make clear its view:
“Many of NBCU’s most valuable copyrighted works have been copied, performed, and disseminated without authorization by YouTube and other similarly operated Websites. NBCU has a strong interest in preserving the strength and viability of all of its legal rights and remedies in response to such conduct.”
